Drunken-driving arrests up 220 percent since '70

By
The Associated Press /
March 1, 1988

Washington

Arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol rose more than 220 percent from 1970 to 1986, while the number of licensed drivers increased by just 42 percent in that period, a government report says. In 1986, some 1.8 million people were arrested for driving under the influence, compared with 556,000 in 1970, said a report issued Sunday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 1983, the peak year, there were 1.9 million such arrests, one for every 80 drivers.

The study also found that rates for driving under the influence were highest among 21-year-olds, reaching a peak in 1983 with a rate of one arrest for every 39 licensed drivers of that age.